Photos of Angie

As a transgender woman, I can’t help but be familiar with the story of Angie Zapata. She was born in 1989, the year I graduated high school; we also shared the same birth name, Justin. The week of her murder the New York Times reported on her death:

It was in that apartment that Ms. Zapata’s badly beaten body was found on July 17.

On Wednesday, the police arrested Allen R. Andrade, 31, and charged him with murder. According to the authorities, Mr. Andrade had gone out on a date with Ms. Zapata, and upon discovering she had male genitalia, beat her to death —starting with his fists and then with a fire extinguisher.

Mr. Andrade told investigators that he thought he had “killed it,” according to an affidavit filed by the police. Mr. Andrade, who is in custody, has said nothing publicly about the killing, and his arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

For those of you that don’t know, Angie’s case was one of those tragic stories that helped advance the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act. Having beaten Angie to death with a fire extinguisher, her murderer, Allen R. Andrade, was convicted after two hours of jury deliberations to life in prision.

This week, Loco Lane Filmworks announced that its new film Photos of Angie, based on the life and death of Angie Zapata, will be making its World Premiere in the 13th Annual XicanIndie Film Festival.

I hope this makes it on DVD soon, so that I too can watch it. Until then, here is a theatrical trailer from the film: